Laura Gaynon is an active performer of modern and baroque cello and viola da gamba, based in San Francisco. Laura has performed with the American Bach Soloists, with the unconducted orchestra One Found Sound, and as a founding member of the baroque ensemble MUSA. As a chamber musician, she has collaborated with Kim Kashkashian, Krista Bennion-Feeney, Geoff Nuttall, Bonnie Hampton, Paul Hersh, and Ian Swensen. She has performed at numerous festivals, including the American Bach Soloists Academy, Toronto Summer Music Festival, Taos School of Music, and the 2012 International Piatigorsky Cello Masterclasses at USC. Laura earned a bachelor’s degree at Yale and graduate degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music as a student of Jennifer Culp. She completed an added emphasis in Historical Performance through her studies with Elisabeth Reed and Corey Jamason, and in 2013 won the Baroque Ensemble Concerto Competition.

AUGUSTA MCKAY LODGE

Augusta McKay Lodge, age 22, holds a Bachelors of Music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory in violin performance, and a Masters of Music from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Augusta performs regularly as an apprentice with Apollo’s Fire, the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra. She has performed on stage with members of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. In April 2015 she performed the Bach A Minor Violin Concerto with the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra. In Fall 2015 Augusta will be attending The Juilliard School of Music for baroque violin, as a proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship.

KIM MAI NGUYEN

French born violist Kim Mai Nguyen is an avid performer of music ranging from Baroque to new music. Involved in several community programs and an enthusiastic advocate of music education, she has been working in several El sistema-inspired programs. She worked this past fall in Kingston, Jamaica with the National Youth Orchestra of Jamaica and was invited on cultural diplomacy visits to Guatemala, Mexico and Afghanistan. An active orchestral musician, she has substituted in the Paris Opera Orchestra and has participated in the Tanglewood Music Center, Spoleto Festival. Kim Mai just completed her M.M. degree at Juilliard.

YUEHAN WANG

Pursuing the double Master of Music degrees in Piano and Early Music (Fortepiano) in the Indiana University, Yuehan is studying with Jean-Louis Haguenauer and Elisabeth Wright now. Yuehan received her Bachelor of Music in China, where her teachers were Yuan Sheng and Jian Wang. As a soloist and chamber musician, Yuehan has performed and given solo recitals on both instruments in China and the United States. Recently, she was awarded the Performer’s Certificate in Fortepiano Performance in the Indiana University.

CHRIS WHITLEY

Christopher Whitley began his violin studies at the age of five. A native of Toronto, Christopher completed his bachelor’s degree at McGill University under Mark Fewer and his master's degree at the San Francisco Conservatory with Ian Swensen. He has performed in master classes for Philip Setzer, Donald Weilerstein, Elizabeth Walfisch, Jaap ter Linden and others. As a chamber musician, Christopher has performed at the Toronto Summer Music Festival and the Domaine Forget Chamber Music Academy with prominent chamber musicians including Ian Swensen, Dong-Suk Kang and members of the St. Lawrence Quartet, the Nash Ensemble and the London Haydn Quartet. Currently based in San Francisco, he is a founding member of the Thalea String Quartet, the new quartet-in-residence at the San Francisco Conservatory.